


Still Human,After All

by Learningnewthings, Writingandrememberances (Learningnewthings)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Clan Politics, Dysfunctional Family, Eyes and Eye Things(This is Naruto After All), Multi, Probably Many More Things I Should Tag, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:49:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29731377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Learningnewthings/pseuds/Learningnewthings, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Learningnewthings/pseuds/Writingandrememberances
Summary: In which waking up in a different body isn't so offputting when you have the time to adjust to it, but only half remembering two different pasts comes with a whole host of odd issues.  Hopefully, together we can solve our problems and issues, and help some others with their lives at the same time.Semi SI/OC
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. A New Day-Still Human Prologue

I woke up in a dark room-which I could very clearly see around. That felt wrong somehow, but I was sure it was too dark for me to normally see in. There was something stuck against my chest, and for some reason, I couldn't gather the will or energy to solve it, which was also all I could feel. I couldn't turn my head or blink, and I had some horrible fuzz of thought in my head that I couldn't quite focus on. I swear I was out on the river just a moment ago, and I fell in-but no hospital I've been to was this dark, and no bed in one was so hard...and why is it so hard to focus? Something is going on in the next room as well...yelling? Screaming? Is it silent, and why can't I tell what is going on? Maybe if I just wait, someone will come to tell me what is happening, and why I can't feel anything right now-would make sense if they needed to do something with anesthetics. I can wait a while.

Eventually, I have to move, right? The weight on my chest is lighter now however long it was from me waking up and 'now' at least. I'm getting convinced something is wrong more and more as time passed-it was either moving at a crawl from my ADHD and thinking far too fast, or I had been alone in here for too long to make sense...more than a day, at least from my count. I'm not hungry, thirsty, or tired, so that can't be it. I have to get up, maybe that would clear everything up that isn't making sense. Maybe this is just sleep paralysis, or something like it-I've heard time can be strange while that happens...I just have to move my arms, then this will all be fine. It has to be, right?

This is wrong. I can tell that time is passing, and something happened outside-the whole room shook and the ceiling cracked when it did...an earthquake, I guess. Nobody has come in yet to tell me anything or help me. I still can't feel or move my arms or legs, but now I'm feeling some kind of buildup in my chest as well- an odd warmth that feels like it belongs even though I don't recognize it. I also keep hearing a voice that doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere-they seem to want me to get up, whoever they are. They are gentle. I have to try to focus because I don't think anybody is coming to help me. I feel like I've been alone forever with this voice now.

The warmth is spreading in me, and I've found that I can move it, a little. The voice-it must be in my head, that is all it could be-it tells me I can move it to my arms to get free. I don't know how I know I can, but I am managing it-even if the pace it moves is so miserable that I keep losing focus so the warmth drifts back to my core instead. I'm pretty sure that warmth is all that is keeping me alive...however alive I count as in this state. I'll learn it, and come back-there simply is nothing else for me to do, so I'll master controlling this flicker for the both of us in here.

I can move my arm now-I've been focused on it so long that I forgot why I wanted to-but he reminded me again that I need to take the damned thing off of my chest. Just reach in, grip, and PAIN. Emotion and energy both rush into me, my body burns all over, and I can MOVE. Finally, I can help mother...mother? Slow down, focus, control your thoughts. Control got me this far, I can still keep it going a little longer. Until I am safe, I have to ignore the pain and confusion and keep going,

The first thing I need to figure out is the location I'm stuck in if I can. I'm in some kind of dungeon or prison, and the room isn't all that big. There is a shelf with 3 jars full of liquid and...eyeballs that do not have normal pupils? They are covered in strange writing I don't understand on sheets of paper. I look at my hands- those are smaller than I thought they were and I'm still holding what was holding me down before. Another sheet of paper, with more writing-kanji, maybe, though it feels like a lifetime ago I last saw any-which means that I was held down by a piece of paper...How grand. There is an odd-looking door with a bar slid through it, covered in more symbols-it opens smoothly into a flooded hallway. Water flows into the room over my feet, and through it, some relief from the burning sensation. I walk out into the hall and look around-left seems to move up and out of the water, and the right side is smooth and flat, so the left it is-up will either be out or more open hopefully.

The climb is, frankly, grueling. I have plenty of energy, I am practically burning up with it, but I feel so tired at the same time in a way that sinks into my body. By the time I reach the top of the hallway-no, not a hallway, definitely more of a tunnel- now I can see some light at the end through the cracks of a second door with more writing along the inside of it. It hardly matters now, as long as I can get out of here and see the sunlight proper again. I reach the door, pushing it open, flinching away from the light rushing in, and gasping-too late to react to a sudden shadow in front of me and a silent motion to my head.

Waking up still hurting was enough of a reminder that I wasn't dreaming the last time I was awake, though this time waking up with my eyes closed confused me momentarily-going so long unblinking was going to be confusing now. Gazing up at a fresh ceiling was oddly unnerving, though from what I remembered it may have been the same style as a hospital. Sitting up only brought new stress-the doorway on my right was flanked by a pair of tall people dressed in full black bodysuits and grey vests, capped off with shaped masks whiter than the walls of the room I was in other than odd markings on them, obviously meant to be animals for whatever reason. I had a fox and a hound, watching me sleep and standing very still. I simply stared at them for a while, as little as I could get from their masks, before taking the initiative and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The Fox reacted very quickly to that, coming to the bedside so fast that I only knew he was coming-I couldn't hope to do anything for it even seeing the motion start. "Please stay in bed. The Hokage will be here shortly-everything is ok now." They said quietly, their voice clear despite their mouth being covered. I opted to listen to them, seeing as I likely had little choice, laying back down in bed and watching them from my position-the Fox had moved straight back to their previous position, still enough that they may not have been alive if not for their motion moments before.

Eventually, the door opened in a smooth motion, and a trio of people entered the room. An old man in red robes with a white overcoat and sash, their goatee framing their saddened expression under a wide-brimmed hat with a kanji for 'fire' on the front of it, a second elderly man, an x shaped scar on their chin below a serious and stern face, wrapped in enough bandages that they may well have been a patient in the hospital as well, and a much younger man with a kind expression, their black outfit firmly contrasting the long well-kept ponytail draped down their back, slightly unkempt bangs held back behind a headband...a headband with a symbol that dragged my mind back from the confusion I had been muddled in for so long. I was in Konoha, in a world that was not real to at least part of me until just now when I realized I was in a room almost a half dozen of who must be the most dangerous men in the country. Yet, for some reason, half of me was comforted by that. The man in the hat introduced themselves first. "Hello, Uchiha-san. I hope that you aren't too frightened by your guards, as they are as much for your sake as any they are for any other right now. My friend Inoichi-san and I need to talk to you about where you came from, and how you came out of where you were...as well as other things, but those can wait until we are done with this." They said in a tone that was not unkind, though it had an amount of seemingly performative caution laced within it.

I'm an Uchiha. That comes with a heaping mess of problems, but those can wait for the time being. They are not speaking in English, and I understand them. Maybe the voice in my head knows Japanese, or whatever language they actually have here. My racing thoughts were not assuaged when Inoichi--Inochi Yamanaka if my memory serves me well enough, was part of the group in Konoha that could just interrogate me and force answers out if they wished such to happen. I decided my best route was to lead off my own questioning on the spot and possibly spare having my mind fully scanned. It seemed doubtful they did this often to their own, seeing many of the issues that Konoha suffered in the series. "What is going on, sir? I remember climbing out of that place after laying in the dark for so long, but everything else is so fuzzy...can you help me understand what happened?" I said, taking the risk of exposing myself in the hope of reaching the famously kinder attitude of Hiruzen before Danzo could start anything of his own.

Hiruzen recoiled very slightly at my words, not responding as Inoichi came to my bedside, kneeling alongside me unhesitantly, taking a look at my eyes and keeping their pose, as well as their expression, neutral. "Uchiha-san, I'm going to ask you a few questions and I'll check your temperature as I do, so please relax and know that we will answer your questions to the best of our ability, alright?" Inoichi said in a reassuring tone, even as they brought up their hand to press into my forehead. I nodded quietly with the understanding that he had full control of the situation and waited for him to begin questioning me. "Let me ask you first, do you remember your name Uchiha-san? Do you remember your parent's names, maybe?" 

"I'm...I am Kisho. Kisho Uchiha, but... I don't remember my parents. I only remember the room and the scientist following his orders to go back to mama, then spending so long alone that everything else blurred into staring at that ceiling, unable to blink or move." I said--not knowing the answer until it had already passed my lips. Was that some technique from Inoichi, or the voice that helped me before guiding me again? It was impossible to tell.

"Very good, Kisho-san. You spent a long time alone, from what I have heard, and I came here to make sure you were handling it well--it is not uncommon for individuals who have spent extended lengths of time in isolation to have trouble remembering things, so even this much is amazing work. Thank you very much for your honesty." Inoichi stood up rather quickly, patting me on the head before retreating to his superiors and stopping with them. They had a whispered conversation that was utterly inaudible to me before Hiruzen himself approached the bedside, not kneeling, but offering me his hand to stand. I did so, only now realizing I was only in a loose hospital gown that felt all at once like I was wearing too much and too little.

Hiruzen took a moment after I was standing with him to hum out, before looking at me with a sad, determined expression. "Let us walk together, Kisho Uchiha. I have someone I wish to introduce you to, and we have much more to speak of and there is someone who will be overjoyed to meet you, should this go well." His tone held a warmth that set my whole body at ease in a way that destroyed any hesitation I had about following him. "Importantly to know is that you have your Sharingan active, and have kept it active almost the entire time anybody has been able to see you so far--other than when you slept. I remember many of your fellow clanmates having much trouble with the drain of keeping yourself in that active state for so long, and I hope you are willing to release it for me, for the time being." His kind tone, still warm, was still surprisingly commanding. I wanted to listen to him, and somewhere in me, I understood why he was chosen for his role. Importantly, I understood why I was seeing things so clearly even from professional Shinobi in expression and action. Having the Sharingan was a powerful tool, though I had no idea of what turned it off or on.

"Sir, I don't know how to turn them off. The entire time I was alone my eyes were like this, I think. If it helps, I don't feel very strained by it at all!" The answers came to me as easily as air, my tone was more innocent and childish than I could ever hope to purposefully manage--even as stress was building for me from the thought of not being fully in control of my body. Pushing down my concerns, I followed my new leader into the hallway ahead. Into the unknown.

Hopefully this time, the unknown is a good thing.


	2. The Last of the Uchiha-Still Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning about what life in Konoha has for me...and what I offer it in return. An introduction to my home. Guess getting a simple life would have been worse for me in the long run anyway, huh?

I was hoping to avoid trouble with any shinobi, especially as I had no longer had any idea how accurate my knowledge was, and how much of it may even be real. No such luck--the very first thing that Hiruzen led me to was another hospital room with several doctors, many of whom stared at me as if I was a monster more than a child. My guide was quick to speak when we entered, and the whole group awaiting us stiffened to attention as he did in an obvious show of respect. "Now, just as you explained this to me, I'm going to need you all to help explain to Kisho here what you understand about his current physical and mental state. I know we do not have all of the information on the subject, and I have already sent for my students to attempt to at least give their opinions on such. This should not, however, change the report I received insofar, correct?" Hiruzen's tone left little room for argument while remaining warm and gentle, the only reason I could tell there was any hint of threat behind it was the less than subtle reactions of the doctors in front of me. I did my best to be unassuming and not stare at any of them and not bother them more than they already were.

The youngest of the group stepped forward, unhappiness open to read in their expression as they began speaking. "Hiruzen-sama, we still aren't sure that what we have is accurate--it doesn't really make sense, either. However, we have records saying that one Kisho Uchiha was born almost 10 years ago, and vanished with their entire family 7 years ago during the Kyuubi attack. This does not line up with the age your body displays biologically, which would suggest you are closer to 6 years old--other than your chakra coils, which show remarkable depth and development. Also, according to both our scans and Yamanaka-san's initial exam, you have a severe split personality. Yamanaka-san also insisted that each of the two personalities is too significant for either to be ignored and that one showed impressive amounts of critical examination and defensiveness, allowing for a gentler second personality to stay even in the state you were in. He...suggested...that revealing our information on this would be a useful way to bring both halves of you to an active state and bring accurate conclusions to how the interplay between you works." They said slowly, looking to their compatriots and pausing.

Hiruzen, looking down at the blank reaction on my face, gave a warm laugh that now only set me on edge for how kind it sounded. I was, at the least, someone who was very insane. However, the fact that they even bothered to talk to me meant they did not know the length of what I thought I may know--anybody who knew of several of Konoha's secrets wouldn't be allowed to simply roam around, right? "I suppose I can hardly say anything you don't already know, huh?" I said, actually making the effort to be heard over my 'other half'. "I've got no idea about any of the biology stuff, but I guess it would make sense if there were two of me, huh? I didn't think about it much while I was in that room, but while I focused on moving the flicker of heat in me to free myself, I always had someone helping me push forward. I thought it was just someone helping, or a voice in my head. But I need to know...why is telling me this the best idea? What if I just panicked, or something else like it?" continuing with a growing boldness that only came knowing that I was very likely to be safe, looking back up to Hiruzen myself and seeing that warm smile back on his face again.

The Hokage nodded down to me, offering a small gesture to the staff in the room that sent them rushing out of the door behind us polite bows and small respectful murmurings. "Simply put, Kisho-san, you were ... unfortunately... experimented on by my student Orochimaru. Many who know me at all grow nervous talking about them around me, and this came at a very poor time in general for the village. Knowing if you could handle heavier subjects allows me to be frank with you over many things that could hurt you if your mindstate were unstable, and helps me understand more clearly your motivations without having to subject you to a very stressed Yamanaka anymore than the both of you can handle. First, the experiments, and their results. It seems my student had been looking into the function of the Sharingan in a way that was hidden enough that even when we dug him out of the village, you stayed hidden. You came up holding a sealing tag--do you know what a sealing tag is, Kisho?" he said, pausing his speech for a moment as I shook my head obediently--no need to say I had some idea of it yet. "It is a way for anybody with enough time and effort to manage several techniques simultaneously, as well as several other complex things. This one, specifically, had the effect of placing your body into a form of extended stasis, feeding a trickle of natural chakra into your body to sustain you physically. This had two extra effects on top of the one that unintentionally let you release yourself from the seal by building up a core of chakra that was not under stasis. The first one simply slowed your aging while you were sealed, which is a known side effect of nature chakra in sages and others who are exposed to safe amounts of it. The second, however, seems to have been the main goal of the seal with hiding you--an attempt to allow you to maintain your Sharingan in an active state for much longer without adverse effects. Most of your clan could not handle leaving their Sharingan active for long periods since the strain of it on their chakra supply was significant even for fully developed coils. We will have to watch over how you handle your extended usage of it, and if you run into exhaustion issues from overuse of it."

Hiruzen once again paused, looking down at me and placing a hand on my shoulder while he waited, either letting the message sink in or waiting for something else. The other me decided to preempt him by asking a question for themselves--it was much easier to tell their pushes when I knew they were there properly. "Sir...do you know where my family is? I wanted to get out to save my mom. Can I get their help?"

Seeing Hiruzen flinch visibly was enough to tell me important info keeping on in the world on multiple fronts. Firstly, the Uchiha massacre definitely already happened and I was now one of the last Uchiha. Secondly, the other me--the real Kisho--had as little knowledge of what I knew and what I was thinking as I did of their memories here. 

Hiruzen, seeing my expression fall at his own flinch, began to speak again, in a slow and somber tone. "Kisho...is this the you that is more defensive of yourself?" I bit my lip to keep myself quiet, nodding to the man in front of me even as he sank under the weight left on his shoulders. "Half a year ago, the Uchiha clan was wiped out in their entirety. Itachi Uchiha did this and fled the village, for reasons nobody understands. The only known living Uchiha are you and Itachi's little brother, Sasuke Uchiha. You are half of the hope of the entire clan now, Kisho-san." He concluded, holding a firm grip on my shoulder while he did so.

I opened my mouth to respond but choked on air instead, tears freely flowing down my face as Kisho stopped trying to focus on reality. I had to take a moment and force myself to take deep breaths before responding with my eyes closed. "So I have one, right? I still have family, which means we will come back even better than before. It will be alright." I have felt heartbreak before, and it wasn't even terribly uncommon in my memory. This feeling in my body, however, was a pain I don't think I could ever relate to--a physical pain of loss that hurt my head and chest, that made me want to collapse and try to escape it. Taking the effort to drag more from my thoughts, I continued half for Kisho and half for Hiruzen. "It...it will be because it must be. I will make it alright, even if I have to do it myself."

Hiruzen knelt then and tightly hugged me, and while the overwhelming pressure of Kisho's loss was not burying me anymore I could still feel the more physical pain that came with it. "I am sorry for your loss Kisho. Your response to it is...better than I could have hoped, and I'm proud of you for being unafraid to both mourn and push onward beyond it even at once. I can't offer you a normal childhood, but I offer you the best I can--a life with your remaining family and the aid of Konoha in whatever path you take in that life." With Hiruzen's words, I realized something I hadn't thought of before in what I remembered of his 'life' that I knew. He was inevitably drawn to helping those who were in cruel circumstances and may have given leeway to Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Naruto for just that reason. I actually felt like that made him more human to me, instead of just a symbol I could talk to.

"Thank you, sir. The only thing I want right now is to meet my cousin...and do what I can to help him. I came back to this, and having to live in it must hurt more than that, right?" I opened my eyes when I spoke, feeling the shocks of Kisho's emotional response in me once again as I cried silently. I returned Hiruzen's hug as best as I could, taking a deep breath before letting him go to continue. "Though I think I'll need more than that with time. After all, I wouldn't want to leave the memory of my family behind by being anything less than an amazing shinobi. Is that ok with you, sir?" I finished, with half-thoughts and ways that I wanted to change the lives around me since I already existed, and if anything that I remembered happening was true I would be right in the center of it all in all the worst ways.

Hiruzen let me go a moment after I finished speaking, looking me in the eyes for a moment before he stood, something in them I couldn't hope to reach. "Just as well. With the mindset you are showing me, you will make a fine shinobi...just remember that being a shinobi is living a good life as well as working in and for that life, Kisho-san. For today, however, returning you home is a fine enough first step--tomorrow we can continue by testing where you are in the basics for the Academy since you say you wish to be a shinobi. I feel it only appropriate to warn you that you will likely be behind others of your age group in most categories...though I have no doubts your chakra control will be more advanced than any of your peers for a long time to come." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder and guiding me out the door even as I wiped my tears. 

Hound and Fox--I suppose Hound was Kakashi, then--were waiting outside openly when Hiruzen and I exited the room. The Fox handed a small clipboard to Hiruzen and he read as we walked up from what must have been the basement of the hospital. The halls were empty other than the occasional passerby in full Anbu uniform, and it took our group passing four of them before we reached an aggressively angled staircase. Hiruzen turned to me and sighed then, pressing his hand to his forehead and tossing the clipboard back to Fox. "Well, we, unfortunately, have an audience with several clan heads thanks to Hiashi and his network revealing you before I could ready anything of note to distract them...which means your cousin will meet you officially before meeting you unofficially as well. Hound, Fox--get to my office and make sure nothing of where Kisho came from or their condition is available for them to see before I can tell them myself." By the time I turned to see what their reactions were, they were already gone, and Hiruzen began to speak to me instead. "I'm going to pick you up for a moment so we can arrive promptly. We are in a place you shouldn't know about yet, so I'm going to have to cover your eyes for a moment as well. My apologies, Kisho-san."

True to his word, I felt something slip over my eyes before my stomach vanished behind me. Hiruzen was able to move fast enough that I didn't even get to react before I was free once again, my eyes uncovered. I was in a circular office with a large desk as the centerpiece of the room, buried in paperwork several inches thick and capped by a small smoking pipe. Despite having just let go of me, the Hokage was behind the desk already and was wearing a much more stern expression than before as he picked up a folder just to the left of the pipe. Opening the folder to look at whatever was inside, Hiruzen laughed openly and beckoned me to his side. "Sorry for the rush, Kisho-san! Apparently, Danzo decided to actually push for a delay on the clan front so you may meet Sasuke in more favorable conditions. Thank you, old friend, for that much." 

Hiruzen spared me a smile before sighing again, standing and walking to my side. "Then, tomorrow you'll be taking a few tests to see how you will handle academy and you will also have to meet a few clan heads--today, you meet your cousin." He said, humming for a moment before smirking down at me. "Do you want to go the regular way out of the building, or would you like to see how anybody who actually wants to make it up here comes in? Most of the time, the joys of it would be lost on youth, but you should have little issue keeping up with all things considered." Hiruzen finished, his turnabout in attitude confusing me.

Before I had time to think to respond, I had lifted my arms with a smile and Kisho's response on my lips. "I want to see the fun one, please!" He said, his excitement pushing over to me in just his tone. Hiruzen, as well, could hear that excitement--his smile as he reached to pick me up made my heart lift, and let me relax into the now with Kisho properly. 

The movement of a Kage was something that I would not have understood if he did it in front of me, even with the Sharingan. Watching the fragmented images that I held from his flicker out of the window into the trees, turning my head back only to realize I couldn't begin to tell where we left from as we passed a river...if I wasn't sure of being a Shinobi before, the slightest chance of being able to do this was enough to draw both sides of me in instantly. Over the next moments, we passed what must have been the front gates of the village along with hundreds of homes and businesses with each flickering past at a frantic rate.

Hiruzen slowed and stopped fast enough that I could feel my stomach come back to rest, standing over a low set of buildings that spread wide, with only a few buildings reaching over the outer walls of the area. The entrance to it had the Uchiha symbol, and my heart sank at the sight of the lightless lifeless streets before me...or Kisho's heart. "I can't really run us further, Kisho-san. You've been very good about handling this so far, and Sasuke has also done well, considering everything. I hope the two of you together can manage great things, both for Konoha and each other." He said, distant even with the kindness he kept for me while he hopped down and placed me on the ground.

Looking up to him was more than enough for me to see he was uncomfortable here, and that meant I needed to act so he may have something better to focus on than the sight in front of us. "Sir, I think I'm ready to meet my last cousin. Could you introduce me to them?" I said, raising my hand to Hiruzen's and gently gripping it to try to inspire him to push forward. He nodded and began to walk me into the Uchiha district, his pace dragging below even a walk as we, presumably, approached Sasuke Uchiha.

Hopefully, Sasuke isn't as angry of a person as I remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on having both Kisho meet Sasuke in this chapter but for the time being, I think keeping the chapters around 3k words is going to be better for me not burning myself out. If I come back to give this major cleanups later, I may merge some of these chapters to keep the subjects better, but for now, I feel the meeting with Sasuke may be a whole chapter in itself.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at fanfic, and my style is likely to shift slightly as I write. The world will also be somewhat canon divergent since I both will naturally change some aspects of the story and cannot hope to remember everything from all of Naruto as I write. I'll attempt to remain consistent with it, and would be glad to see any idea or suggestions over my writing as well-please just try to not be too harsh with the words used in it!


End file.
